Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Frank Ocean-CHANNEL ORANGE ALBUM REVIEW

Do you like it when tracks on an album are comprised of footsteps, PlayStation, and doors closing? NO? TOUGH. 


This is probably one of the most hyped albums of 2012. Frank Ocean is a neo-soul/R&B singer and this is his debut album with Def Jam. He's been getting a lot of buzz the past couple of years thanks to some singles, a free mixtape (Nostalgia, Ultra) and a few guest spots (most notably with Kanye West and Jay-Z on Watch The Throne). He's also a member of hip-hop collective OFWGKTA, better known as Odd Future. The group has been huge in the underground hip-hop scene for years, and Frank is easily one of the most talented members.

Despite his smooth tenor and his interesting melodies, I honestly think he's got one of the weaker voices in his genre. Put a gun to my head if you want, but hear me out. In this lane you've got people like The Weeknd, The Dream, Raheem Devaughn, Anthony Hamilton, even R. Kelly you could arguably place here. They can all out-sing him for the most part. They have more range in their voice, they can all belt out notes when necessary. So in my opinion, he's got some stiff competition.

I'll say this right now though: Frank Ocean is at his best when things are simple. The first song on here, "Thinkin Bout You" was actually released a year ago and is arguably Frank Ocean's biggest song. But the production to the song was very lo-fi, so the only redeemable thing about the song to me was Frank's falsetto. This time around, the production has been upped and Frank put some reverb on his voice to make it soar. It's one of those songs that makes you feel like laying in bed, and thinking about that special person as you stare at the ceiling of your room with the lights off. Frank sing-talks his way through the verses, but the chorus is what sets the mood and is just pure bliss to listen to. The song is incredibly simple still, but I much prefer this version to the original posted a year ago.

Although, I think I should specify about Frank when his songs are "simple". Some of these songs, like "Sierra Leone" just don't feel complete. When I look at the lyrics to some songs, it's like the thoughts are disjointed or incomplete. The song references having a kid when you really haven't finished growing up yourself. Its a great topic for a song, but the way Frank Ocean does it feels very skeletal. There's no substance to the lyrics. It doesn't show a story. It just tells you what happens, with no emotion or passion. That's one thing that a lot of the songs are missing here: fire.

When Frank Ocean sings, he hits all the notes. He's always on pitch, but there isn't anything more to it. There isn't any fire to the notes he sings sometimes, which is why I like him more when it's his intention to make a song "simple".

The only occurrence where things aren't very simple, and it all works out is on the next track "Sweet Life". It's got some nice jazz keys and bass that sound oh so sweet. It actually reminds me a bit of something off Beyonce's last album. But it's basically a song where Frank is in a relationship with someone who has it all, but still they want more. I'm sure there are gonna be tons of Facebook statuses quoting the lyrics here.

"Super Rich Kids" has a similar topic but Frank takes a more satirical spin on it. It's basically singing the "rich kid blues". In the background through out the song you can hear what sounds like adults arguing in the background. Earl Sweatshirt's verse on the song is kinda nice, although it is nowhere near his best verse. Other than this stuff, there isn't much going back to on this song. Other than the fact the song is a satire, I wouldn't consider it a pleasure to listen to.

Frank's almost-10 minute long "Pyramids" is definitely worthy of a listen or two. I'll be honest and say I'm only a fan of the first half of it. It sounds like a mix between Janelle Monae and The Weeknd. It's experimental, but catchy. The story of the song explores a commanding woman and prostitution in Las Vegas. It doesn't get very deep and doesn't exactly justify the fact that it is ten minutes long though. The last minute and a half of the song is just some synths and a muddy guitar being played very sloppy. I have no idea why that was kept in the mix.

The last three songs on this album(Bad Religion, Pink Matter, Forrest Gump) are really interesting to me. All for different reasons. Bad Religion is the only song in this album where you can feel Frank's pain and agony. I believe every word he sings. Pink Matter is a Baby-maker, for sure. It's so smooth and it has Andre 3000. Is there any rapper out there that can rap about love better? I dare you to think of one. The last song, Forrest Gump is unique. Frank is singing about a man that he has feelings toward, but you can't tell if he's ACTUALLY singing about Forrest Gump, or someone with the same characteristics as Forrest. The instrumentals are also incredibly simple, but they just...work.

The other songs on here aren't anything special to me. They just seem pretty mediocre honestly. I just find them pretty forgettable. I should also mention there are about 5 or 6 interludes on this album, including the beginning and end. This explains the little joke of mine at the top. They don't really serve any point other than being breaks between songs. Which isn't that great of a purpose anyway.

I wanted to like this album a lot more than I did. Frank Ocean is a great artist, don't get me wrong. This album is definitely progression for him. But I don't see myself listening to much of it later on and I don't think it's worth a buy. Although I would say to listen yourself and find the tracks that you like.
FAVE TRACKS: THINKIN BOUT YOU, SWEET LIFE, BAD RELIGION, PINK MATTER
LEAST FAV TRACKS: SIERRA LEONE, PILOT JONES
6/10

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Metric-Synthetica ALBUM REVIEW

Metric are an alternative rock/pop band from Toronto, Canada featuring lead singer Emily Haines (who is also a member of Broken Social Scene). Metric's style comes from lots of deep basslines, piercing guitar leads, pretty synths, and pumping drums, along with Emily Haines' signature vocals.  They are most known for their seminal album, Fantasies.

Synthetica was produced by the bands guitarist, Jimmy Shaw (who is also a member of Broken Social Scene). As for the overall sound, they basically took it in the direction they did with Fantasies. Alternative dance-y rock with some deeper meanings and personal stories thrown in for substance. According to front-woman Emily, Synthetica is "about forcing yourself to confront what you see in the mirror when you finally stand still long enough to catch a reflection. Synthetica is about being able to identify the original in a long line of reproductions. It's about what is real vs what is artificial".

Synthetica opens up with a pretty glossy and reverb-heavy synth section while Emily Haines talking about how messed up she is. But how she's just like the rest of us.
The next track, Youth Without Youth, was the first song to drop from this album. It got me excited. It's a great song and it sounds like typical Metric to me. Emily's lyrics here are great by the way. They show how destructive young people can be when we have "fun".
Another highlight for me was the song "Lost Kitten". Which sounds really new and refreshing to me. Emily Haines is singing in this falsetto of hers and its a really catchy, poppy, love song. It sounds like I would've heard it on their album Grow Up And Blow Away. I also laughed out loud at the lyric "I was lookin' for a hooker when I found you." How romantic.
The title track here, Synthetica, is probably one of their best songs in my opinion. It reminds me of their debut album just because of how youthful it is. Its kinda hard NOT to hum along to it. It pretty much sums up the album's meaning
The guest vocals by Lou Reed on the song The Wanderlust ruin the song for me a bit. They just come from left-field and they're really unexpected. If you listen to it, you'll know what I mean. Other than that, I guess its a good song...?
Other than that stuff, there isn't really anything impressive or new or super creative here that stands out to me.

Synthetica somehow brings together Metric's sounds, both new and old, and mashes them in a pot and then feed us this familiar tasting concoction. If you're new to Metric, this is a pretty accessible album and you could get into this fine. But the question lies: Is this album as good as Fantasies? Um...no not really. It's got a really great message and inspiration behind it. And it's decent but I don't see myself returning to much on here. Overall, I would say to maybe check it out if you love Metric or just power-pop in general. You can find something good here.


FAV. TRACKS: YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH, LOST KITTEN, SYNTHETICA, SPEED THE COLLAPSE
Score: 5/10

Friday, June 8, 2012

My Favorite Albums of 2012 (so far)

As my first post I thought it would be a good idea to sorta show what I feel about 2012's music so far. Below are my top 5 favorite albums from the first half of the year. I'm including where you can listen to these albums as well as share my highlights.